A Brazilian rarity in so many aspects, mostly because of two controversial topics in the 1970's during the military regime: students political protests and homosexualism. While the first is a mere plot device that doesn't impact the movie, the latter is what the movie is about (in part) though it's not deeply covered as it should be but couldn't because of the many restrictions imposed at the time - either way, it was a daring theme to be treated then, and the optic we have of it now makes of "Strange Triangle" is a good thing to watch. Somehow, this movie escaped the censors.
The triangle of the title is formed by poor college student Durval (Carlo Mossy), an unemployed guy who finds his way in life by working for Werner, a rich businessman (José Augusto Branco) who's attracted to Durval and has an affair with him; while Susana (Leila Santos) is the one who Werner shows to everybody as his wife. Things get complicated when Durval and Susana get involved, with the guy thinking he's in love with her, and in his naivety he thinks he can exclude Werner out of the equation forgetting that he depends of the other man to live his dream of fancy cars, paid apartment and luxury. And worst: it turns out that Werner has plans to marry the girl, and it's not only because of the convenience, he also thinks he's in love with her. I guess everyone can see tragedy coming a mile away...
Above all, the story is involving despite omitting what goes on between both guys and displaying more of the intimacy between the young heterosexual couple. I know, sign of times. But I know a lot of people will be disappointed by this lack of honesty and openness in the film. Thankfully, José Augusto Branco is such a good actor that his nuanced performance as a gay man managed to overcome the lack of dynamism between his character and Durval. I won't even bother mentioning about the rest of the cast, all I can say is that they were really dull. José Wilker, as Durval's friend, in one of his earliest roles, comes off as a fine presence and manages to do some good. What do I learned from it? Well, relationships are flawed, frail, most of the time people are used because of interests, their money and their appearance, and that whole "love's all that matters and money can't buy love" is pure crap. We need them both but that doesn't mean they come hand in hand. Fassbinder did it better ("Fox and his Friends" for instance) but this one, for a first time director, is quite watchable. 7/10
